The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a pandemic-driven emergency ordinance giving the Mayor 12 days to secure 7,000 hotel rooms to house the city’s homeless population and an additional 1,250 rooms to house the city’s frontline workers. During a Tuesday video conference, the Board rebuked Mayor London Breed’s more moderate strategy to place only […]
Trump Administration Asks for Census Delay
The Trump administration has moved to delay deadlines for the 2020 United States Census due to concerns over COVID-19. The changes, requested by Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, would delay the deadline for delivering state population counts for apportionment from December 2020 to April 2021 and for giving states […]
Abortion Services Allowed to Continue in Oklahoma After Appeals Court Ruling
The decision by a lower court to overturn the Oklahoma governor’s ban on abortion has been upheld by a federal appeals court. Yesterday, a three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals made a unanimous ruling to allow abortions to continue in Oklahoma, overturning Gov. Kevin Stitt’s (R) ban on abortion as part […]
Judge Affirms Abortion Access in Alabama During Coronavirus Pandemic
A federal judge has ruled that Alabama cannot ban abortions during the coronavirus pandemic. District Judge Myron Thompson decided that the state must allow abortion providers to exercise “reasonable medical judgment” in deciding whether a procedure can wait until after the COVID-19 crisis. Alabama, like many other states, ordered a halt on non-essential medical procedures […]
Virginia Governor Signs Abortion Protections and Gun Reform Into Law
On Friday, Governor Ralph Northam signed bills into law that roll back state abortion restrictions, specifically the state’s TRAP (Targeted Restrictions on Abortion Providers) laws. The removal of abortion restrictions comes at a time when reproductive rights are being restricted under the current administration and during the COVID-19 crisis. Northam’s spokeswoman Alena Yarmosky stated that […]
Federal Appeals Court Reinstates Texas Coronavirus Abortion Ban
A federal appeals court upheld Texas’s ban on abortion services during the coronavirus crisis less than 24 hours after a district judge struck down parts of the ban. This latest decision blocks medication abortions but allows abortions for those who would be past Texas’s legal gestational limit at the end of the ban. In late […]
Insurance Companies Say Action Must Be Taken to Avoid Collapse of Insurance Industry
Representatives of the insurance industry took action and wrote a letter to some congressional lawmakers in California, revealing that insurance companies do not have the foundations necessary to withstand the COVID-19 pandemic. “Insurance coverage works by spreading risk, but that model simply cannot account for a situation in which losses are catastrophic and nearly universal,” […]
Medical Professionals Ask For Advance Medicare Payments During Pandemic
For many healthcare professionals who own medical practices during the coronavirus outbreak, concerns have grown over how to pay rent. Private practices, hospitals, and other healthcare facilities have faced a massive influx of patients, though revenue has dropped because appointments are now generally over the phone or computer. This loss of revenue makes it difficult to pay […]
Abortion Providers in Texas Turn to District Courts for Abortion Ban Exemptions
Texas abortion providers asked a district judge for limited relief from an executive order restricting abortion during the pandemic, rather than taking the case to the Supreme Court. The move by the providers to seek help from a district judge was made in response to an order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the […]
Northern Irelanders Must Travel to England for Abortion Care During Pandemic
Despite the recent legalization of abortion in Northern Ireland, it remains inaccessible there, forcing patients to take an 8-hour ferry ride to England to receive abortion care. Last year, the British parliament overturned Northern Ireland’s restrictive abortion laws to bring it into line with the rest of the United Kingdom, but the regional government continues […]
Majority of COVID-19 Related Job Loss Falls on Women and Minorities
The U.S. Labor Department reports that 701,000 workers were laid off in March due to COVID-19, with almost 60 percent of those being women. Earlier this year, women had overtaken men to make up the majority of the national workforce, but layoffs have put them back in the minority. Stay-at-home orders and mandatory business closures have […]
Judge Blocks Oklahoma Abortion Restrictions During COVID-19 Outbreak
Oklahoma US District Judge Charles Goodwin has just blocked a state executive order that limits abortion access during the coronavirus pandemic. Judge Goodwin believes that Oklahoma’s ban would cause “irreparable harm” to individuals unable to receive abortion care. In response to Oklahoma’s state executive order, Goodwin also remarked, “that while the current public health emergency […]
Coronavirus Hampers Access to Menstrual Products for Low-Income People and Shelters
Low-income individuals and social service organizations are struggling to find menstrual products amid the coronavirus outbreak. Along with other essentials like toilet paper, menstrual products have become difficult to find in stores or online due to consumers stocking up at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Panic shopping in March left many grocery stores, pharmacies, […]
Study Reports Texas Women Will Have to Travel 20 Times Farther to Obtain Abortion Care
Due to Texas’ new abortion ban, women in the state must now travel 20 times farther to obtain an abortion as reported in an analysis of anti-abortion measures implemented in some states due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a study by the Guttmacher Institute, the average distance a woman will have to travel one-way […]
How Ordinary Afghans are Helping to Combat COVID-19
Waiving rents, making masks, distributing food supplies, and raising awareness about the deadly virus are some of the things that ordinary Afghans have been contributing to flatten the curve of this virus in Afghanistan. Afghans have been fighting for their lives daily and this health crisis is yet another test of survival in Afghanistan. However, […]
Diabetes Patients Struggle To Find Essential Supplies During Pandemic
As many Americans have scoured the shelves at local stores for disinfectant supplies and toilet paper, people with diabetes have been desperately searching for rubbing alcohol or alcohol swaps which are commonly used to manage diabetes care. These necessary diabetic care supplies have been among cleaning supplies which have been mass-purchased by members of the public who […]
Wisconsin Republicans Push Health Officials to Close Abortion Clinics
Wisconsin Republicans argued in a letter that state health officials should temporarily close abortion clinics for safety, and to ensure that they are not utilizing medical resources that are needed elsewhere during the COVID-19 pandemic. Governor Tony Evers’ “Safer at Home” order given last week did not specifically mention abortion clinics as essential business; however, […]
Senators, LGBTQ Advocates Demand Lift on Federal Blood Donation Ban to Address COVID-19 Shortages
Senators and LGBTQ rights groups are urging the federal Food and Drug Administration to allow gay and bisexual men to donate blood and plasma to address supply shortages during the coronavirus pandemic. Current FDA guidelines prohibit men who have had sex with men in the last 12 months from donating blood. Activists argue that this […]
UN Report: Women Face Barriers When Consenting to Sex, Accessing Healthcare
According to the United Nations, only around half of the world’s women are able to make their own decisions regarding sexual consent and healthcare, limiting gender equality for millions. A study by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) reported that women’s rights are actually on the decline in some countries, and one in four women […]
California Special Needs Students Left Behind Amidst COVID-19 Education Changes
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act guarantees disabled students access to equal, high-quality, and free public education. However, as California nears its third week of physical school closures amidst the Coronavirus pandemic, special needs students are being left behind in the struggle to navigate the uncharted territory of distance learning. Approximately 800,000 California students receive […]
